Tate Modern, Hyundai Motor and the Hyundai Commission

The generator of contemporary art

Opened in 2000, in a power plant that had been abandoned for 20 years, Tate Modern in London is one of the most influential art museums in the world and is visited by more than 5 million people every year. In the short time since its opening, the museum has already become a London landmark and generator of global modern and contemporary art. Its drastic transformation has been through the commitment to offer a rich variety of experiences to visitors and opportunities to artists. Tate Modern continues this focus to become a space where people can come to play, debate and relax. As the name suggests, Tate Modern deals with artworks from the 20th century onwards, and each gallery and exhibition has its own distinctive genre. The artworks at Tate Modern can be said to be delivering the history of contemporary art.

Dreaming of innovation with imagination

The longest corporate partner in the history of Tate Modern

In 2014, Hyundai Motor announced the unique long term partnership with the one of world’s most influential contemporary art museums, Tate. The 11 year partnership with Tate is the longest initially confirmed period in the history of Tate and Hyundai Motor will present various exhibitions and programs with Tate until 2025. Through this collaboration, Hyundai Motor will be doing more than just sponsoring art, but will go one step further to develop various projects that make us reflect upon the values that are needed in our time, and support a range of projects in which more people than ever can participate and share.

As a key part of the partnership, the Hyundai Commission invites international artists to face the sheer scale and unique atmosphere of the Turbine Hall with an installation for the space. Considering that the Turbine Hall has been a space where the most memorable and acclaimed works of art have been unveiled, as pieces by renowned artists such as Louise Bourgeois and Anish Kapoor, this new series will offer a view of the future of contemporary art.

“Hyundai believes in partnerships that go far beyond business. We partner with people… and with communities… around the world. As a medium that transcends many traditional barriers, this partnership will transcend genres, nationalities, genders, ideologies and even histories.”-Euisun Chung, Vice Chairman, Hyundai Motor-

Hyundai Commission 2017: SUPERFLEX – One Two Three Swing!

Portrait of SUPERFLEX, 2014. Photo credit: SUPERFLEX

SUPERFLEX, the artist collective for the third annual Hyundai Commission, was founded in 1993 by Danish artists Bjørnstjerne Christiansen, Jakob Fenger and Rasmus Nielsen. SUPERFLEX is internationally recognized for its projects and exhibitions presented across Europe, America and Asia. The collective challenges the conventional limitations and expectations of art and exhibition spaces through diverse and complex practices. By referring to its works as “tools” instead of art works or pieces, the group places the projects in an active context exploring alternative models for the creation, dissemination, and maintenance of social and economic organization.

SUPERFLEX examines social and economic issues from migration to alternative energy production and from the power of global capital to the regulation of intellectual property, encouraging active engagement in the social and cultural concerns of our time. These efforts by SUPERFLEX are well reflected in <Hospital Equipment (2014)>, which is an installation of surgical equipment dispatched directly from gallery to conflict zone. Setting the scene of a life and death situation inside the gallery space, the work highlights our divergent reaction to the media and humanitarian fundraising campaigns involving conflicts of war. <Hospital Equipment> also challenges the concept of contemporary art practice as the operating equipment will be shipped directly to a selected hospital in a conflict zone and only the photograph will remain with who purchases the work. SUPERFLEX, who poses timely questions as artists on our increasingly complex society, raise further questions for us in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. <Hyundai Commission: SUPERFLEX – One Two Three Swing!> is on view until 2 April 2018 at Tate Modern.

Hyundai Commission 2016: Philippe Parreno: Anywhen

Philippe Parreno, 2014, Photo credit: Andrea Rossetti

Philippe Parreno, the artist of the Hyundai Commission 2016, crosses over various media such as sculpture, film, video, sound, performance, and information technology. Currently residing in Paris, Parreno is actively engaging in the global art scene, distinguishing himself from the contemporary artists while presenting diversified works. The artist goes further from installing a single objet in an exhibition space, occupying the space while regarding the exhibition as one coherent whole. He also explores vague areas, raising questions on the border between reality and fiction, and stirring and combining the factual and imaginary worlds. Parreno has collaborated with many visual artists as well as many musicians, architects, scientists and writers, and continues the tradition of the avant-garde artist engaged with many cultural disciplines.

Parreno invites the viewers to the rapid reevaluation of the essence of reality, memories, and the flow of time and duration, aiming to expand the perception on the continuity of time. He is an artist who continues to study and redefine direct and physical experiences of artworks and exhibition spaces. One of his well-known works is <Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait> (2006), a full-length film that he co-produced with Douglas Gordon. He drew attention once again with his new large-scale work, <H{N)Y P N(Y}OSIS> (2015), installed at the Park Avenue Armory, staging a journey to dramatic senses by merging film, light, sound, and performance. Having redefined the way of participating and experiencing art through his entire career, Parreno provided another opportunity for the audience to be immersed in the artwork and the space through the Hyundai Commission. Hyundai Commission 2016 by Parreno, which transformed the Turbine Hall, was on view from 4 October 2016 until 2 April 2017.

Hyundai Commission 2015: Abraham Cruzvillegas: Empty Lot

Abraham Cruzvillegas, the artist of the inaugural Hyundai Commission, is known for his works reflecting social and economic traits of Mexico. He began to make a name for himself in the contemporary art scene with his series ‘Autoconstrucción’. His works have been introduced at various internationally prominent museums such as the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. And in 2015, as the artist for the inaugural Hyundai Commission, his work was shown at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall visited by millions every year. The Turbine Hall’s new large sculpture, <Empty Lot> by Abraham Cruzvillegas, provoked questions about the city and nature, as well as wider ideas of chance, change, and hope. In the middle of the busy London, the ‘empty lot’ was a space where nothing was produced but where change could happen. <Hyundai Commission 2015: Abraham Cruzvillegas - Empty Lot> was on display from 13 October 2015 until 3 April 2016.